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Writers Kasdan & Kinberg Chat Vague 'Star Wars' Details & Fandom

by Alex Billington
February 8, 2013
Source: IGN

"There was a chance to capture some of the spirit of the original trilogy that I'd worked on. I thought there's an audience out there -- my grandchildren, lots of original Star Wars people -- and there always will be. It's only good that we try to do some more great ones." After all the news about Star Wars recently, I'm glad we get to hear some updates directly from the people involved. Thanks to a tip from SlashFilm, it was IGN who was lucky enough to catch both Star Wars screenwriters Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg at the Final Draft Big Break screenwriting awards and get some interesting, if not vague, quotes out of them.

Up first, while IGN spoke with legendary Lucasfilm screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan (Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, The Big Chill, Silverado, The Bodyguard, Darling Companion), not much was revealed in their conversation that we didn't already know. However, he did at least confirm that this idea for the return for a new trilogy "actually first started with conversation I had with (Kathleen Kennedy) and George [Lucas]." His most exciting comment came when he was asked about the upcoming Star Wars Episode 7, 8, 9 trilogy he's writing, with J.J. Abrams set to direct one of them. Kasdan answers:

"They're going to be fun. J.J. (Abrams)'s a great director for the first sequel. Perfect. We're very happy to have him. The writers I've been working with -- Michael Arndt, who's going to write the sequel, and Simon Kinberg, who has, like me, been sort of consulting -- they're great. I've never really collaborated a lot, and I've never been a room with a bunch of writers thinking, 'Well, what should this thing be?' It's fun. It's really fun. And J.J.'s a writer. Yeah, lovely guy. I'd met him but didn't know him. But now I'm totally enamored by him. He's really funny and so enthusiastic."

Great to hear, I would certainly say the same. One of many reasons why I think J.J. is a great choice for the next Star Wars movie. But he's just one of many people involved in this new series of movies. Continuing on in IGN's interview, they spoke with the aforementioned Simon Kinberg, who has been working on the return/reboot of the Star Wars universe with Episode 7 and the standalone movies that we now know are in development. Kinberg, first, talks highly of Kasdan, saying, "he's a lovely guy, and I've gotten to know him a bit. He's as good a guy as he is a writer." Kinberg addresses a question about taking on this task as a big fan:

"I honestly try to approach all of these movies -- whether it's a title like X-Men or Sherlock Holmes or Star Wars -- as a fan. I try to block out the anxiety I feel if I worry too much about the responsibility, and I just try to focus on the fun of it and the reasons why I grew up reading X-Men comics and watching Star Wars movies and reading Sherlock Holmes stories, that first time I read or watched any of those things and why they were so magical to me. I try to honor that and return to that as I would a fan. That's the way I feel. When I wake up in the morning and I'm working on an X-Men movie, it's insane for me every day because I'm so excited to get to work."

Kinberg is also writing the X-Men: Days of Future Past for Bryan Singer, which is why he references both X-Men and Star Wars, two huge fan franchises he has control over as screenwriter. But he seems confident, thus we should be confident in him. This honestly sounds like it's in the best hands possible; as long as Lucas isn't writing, but people who have a long history with the series are, we'll be fine. One last interesting quote from Kinberg when asked if they'll use "a whole new plot and characters for your standalone movie?"

"This is what I would say: as a fan, I wouldn't want to know too much. I know that's impossible because it's not the '70s or '80s anymore, but part of what was so exciting about A New Hope for me was I was entering into a universe I didn't know. Even in Empire, I was surprised by a twist I never would have seen coming. But it's different nowadays. I understand the excitement, and I'm happy that people are interested, obviously. But I'd rather people have something left to discover when they go in."

That sounds like a big "leave me alone, don't ask for details, it's better you don't know them" response. For the full interview(s) with Kasdan & Kinberg, head over to IGN.com. It's at least fun to hear what they have to say, because obviously neither one are going to say anything that reveals any key details. Lucas and Kennedy and everyone at Lucasfilm and Disney have this series on lockdown, and they seem to be good with revealing bits of details, piece at a time. Aside from the recent rumored "leaks" about the standalone movies, right after the CEO confirmed Kasdan & Kinberg were involved. For now, we'll have to wait until any more Star Wars updates are discovered and confirmed, since not many people are saying much at all.

Filed under Discuss, Movie News, SciFi, Star Wars

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